3

Mary's Child

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Near a great forest there lived a woodcutter with his wife. He had but
one child, a three-year old girl. Now they were so poor that they no
longer had their daily bread, and they did not know how they were to feed
her.

One morning the woodcutter, filled with sorrow, went out to his work in
the woods. While he was chopping wood suddenly there stood before him a
beautiful tall woman with a crown of shining stars on her head.

She said to him, "I am the Virgin Mary, mother of the Baby Jesus. You
are poor and needy. Bring your child to me. I will take her with me and be
her mother and care for her."

The woodcutter obeyed, fetched his child, and turned her over to the
Virgin Mary, who took her up into heaven with her. There the child fared
well. She ate sweetened bread and drank fresh milk. Her clothes were of
gold, and the little angels played with her.

When she was fourteen years old, the Virgin Mary summoned her one day
and said, "Dear child, I am about to make a long journey. Take care of
these keys to the thirteen doors of heaven. You may open twelve of these
doors, and behold the glorious things inside, but the thirteenth door, to
which this little key belongs, is forbidden for you. Be careful not to
open it, or you will be unhappy."

The girl promised to be obedient, and when the Virgin Mary was gone,
she began to examine the dwellings of the kingdom of heaven. Each day she
opened one of them, until she had been to all twelve. An apostle,
surrounded by great brilliance, sat in each one. She rejoiced in the
magnificence and splendor, and the little angels who always accompanied
her rejoiced with her.

Now only the forbidden door remained, and she felt a great desire to
know what was hidden behind it. She said to the little angels, "I will not
open it all the way, nor will I will go inside, but I will only unlock it
so that we can see just a little through the crack."

"Oh no," said the little angels, "that would be a sin. The Virgin Mary
has forbidden it, and it might easily lead to unhappiness for you."

To that she said nothing, but the desire in her heart was not stilled.
To the contrary, it gnawed away, tormenting her, and would give her no
rest.

Then one day when the angels had all gone out, she thought, " I am
entirely alone now, and I could peek in. If I do so, no one will ever
know."

She sought out the key, and as soon as she had it in her hand, she put
it into the lock as well, and as soon as it was in the lock, she turned it
around as well. The door sprang open, and there she saw the Trinity
sitting in fire and brilliance. She stayed there a little while, looking
at everything in amazement. Then she put her finger a little way into the
brilliance, and her finger turned entirely golden. Immediately a great
fear fell upon her. She slammed the door shut, and ran away.

The fear did not go away, do what she may. He heart pounded furiously
forth and would not become still. And the gold remained on her finger as
well. It would not come off, no matter how much she washed and rubbed.

Not long afterward, the Virgin Mary returned from her journey. She
summoned the girl, and asked her to return the keys of heaven. When the
girl gave the ring of keys to her, the Virgin looked into her eyes and
said, "Have you not opened the thirteenth door as well.?"

"No," she replied.

Then the Virgin Mary laid her hand on the girl's heart, and felt how it
pounded and pounded, and saw well that she had disobeyed her order and had
opened the door. Then she said further, "You did not do it for sure?"

"No," said the girl a second time.

Then the Virgin noticed the finger that had turned golden from having
touched the heavenly fire, and knew well that the girl had sinned, and she
said a third time, "Have you not done it?"

"No," said the girl a third time.

Then the Virgin Mary said, "You have not obeyed me, and you have lied
as well. You are no longer worthy to be in heaven."

Then the girl sank into a deep sleep, and when she awoke she lay below
on earth, in the middle of a wilderness. She wanted to cry out, but she
could not bring forth a sound. She jumped up and wanted to run away, but
in wherever she turned, she was held back by thick thorn hedges which she
could not break through. In the wilderness where she was imprisoned there
stood an old hollow tree. It would have to serve as her home. She crept
inside it when night came, and slept there. And when it stormed and
rained, she found shelter inside it, but it was a miserable life, and she
cried bitterly when she thought about how beautiful it had been in heaven,
and how the angels had played with her.

Roots and wild berries were her only food, which she looked for as far
as she could go. In the fall she gathered the fallen nuts and leaves, and
carried them into the opening in the tree. The nuts were her food during
the winter, and when snow and ice came, she crept under the leaves like a
poor little animal, so that she would not freeze. Before long her clothes
were ripped to shreds, and one piece of them after another fell off her.

When the sun shone warmly again she went outside and sat in front of
the tree. Her long hair covered her on all sides like a cloak. Thus she
sat year after year, feeling the world's misery and pain.

One day, when the trees were once again a fresh green, the king of the
country was hunting in the woods. He followed a deer that had fled into
the thicket that surrounded this part of the woods. Getting off his horse,
he tore the brush aside and cut himself a path with his sword. When he had
at last forced his way through, he saw a wonderfully beautiful girl
sitting under the tree, covered entirely with her golden hair, down to her
toes.

Filled with amazement, he stood still and looked at her, then he spoke
to her, saying, "Who are you? Why are you sitting here in this
wilderness?"

But she gave no answer, for she could not open her mouth.

The king continued, "Will you go with me to my castle?"

To this she just nodded her head a little. The king took her into his
arms, lifted her onto his horse, and rode home with her. Arriving at the
royal castle, he had her dressed in beautiful clothing and gave her an
abundance of everything. Although she could not speak, she was still so
beautiful and charming that he fell in love her with all his heart, and it
was not long before he married her.

About a year later the new queen brought a son into the world.
Afterward the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night when she was lying
alone in her bed, and said, "If you will tell the truth and confess that
you unlocked the forbidden door, I will open your mouth and give you back
your speech, but if you persevere in sin, and stubbornly deny it, I will
take your newborn child away with me."

The queen was allowed to answer, but she remained obstinate, and said,
"No, I did not open the forbidden door," and the Virgin Mary took the
newborn child out of her arms and disappeared with it.

The next morning when the child was not to be found, it was rumored
among the people that the queen was a cannibal and had killed her own
child. She heard all this and could say nothing to the contrary, but the
king did not want to believe it, because he loved her so much.

One year later the queen again bore a son. In the night the Virgin Mary
again came to her, and said, "If you will confess that you opened the
forbidden door, I will give you your child back and release your tongue,
but if you continue in sin and deny it, then I will take this newborn
child with me as well."

Then the queen said again, "No, I did not open the forbidden door," and
the Virgin took the child out of her arms, and took it away with her to
heaven.

The next morning, when this child had disappeared as well, the people
loudly said that the queen had eaten it, and the king's councilors
demanded that she should be brought to justice. The king, however, loved
her so dearly that he would not believe it, and ordered the councilors,
under threat of death, to say nothing more about it.

The following year the queen gave birth to a beautiful little daughter,
and for a third time the Virgin Mary appeared to her in the night.

She said, "Follow me." Taking the queen by the hand, she led her to
heaven, and showed her there her two oldest children, who were laughing
and playing with the ball of the world.

When the queen rejoiced at seeing this, the Virgin Mary said, "Has your
heart not yet softened? If you will confess that you opened the forbidden
door, I will give you back your two little sons."

But for a third time the queen answered, "No, I did not open the
forbidden door." Then the virgin let her sink down to earth again, and
took away her third child as well.

The next morning, when it became known, all the people shouted loudly,
"The queen is a cannibal. She must be condemned." And the king was no
longer able to hold back his councilors."

A trial was held, and as she was not able to respond and defend
herself, she was condemned to be burned at the stake. Wood was piled
together. After she had been bound tightly to a stake, and the fire was
beginning to burn around her, the hard ice of pride melted. Her heart was
moved by regret, and she thought, "If only I could confess before my death
that I opened the door."

Then her voice came back to her, and she cried out loudly, "Yes, Mary,
I did it!"

Immediately rain began to fall from heaven, and it put out the fiery
flames. A light broke forth above her, and the Virgin Mary descended. She
had the two little sons by her side, and the newborn daughter on her arm.
Speaking kindly to her, she said, "Whoever repents a sin and confesses it
will be forgiven."

Then she gave her the three children, released her tongue, and gave her
happiness for her entire life.

This tale was included in the first edition of the Grimms' collection
(vol. 1, 1812). It has been number 3 in all seven editions published
during the Grimms' lifetime. The Grimms incorporated only minor changes
into the tale between the first and later editions.

The title of this story is variously translated as "Mary's Child," "A
Child of Saint Mary," "The Virgin Mary's Child," and "Our Lady's Child."